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Beginners “Bagration”

direction of the Belarusian winter ’43 – in the spring of the 44th Red Army had seriously. It formed the front position, and no matter how tried commanders, to break through the German defenses failed. Revenge was taken in the summer, when four Soviet front to the nines defeated the German Army Group “Center” in the Belarusian offensive operation.

His contribution to the victory was made not only to Soviet soldiers and officers, but also the designers at Throughout the war, to create new and more effective means to deal with the enemy. By the beginning of operation “Bagration” The Red Army has expanded its arsenal of five new products.

T-34-85

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T-34-85 – an upgraded version of the T-34. Was developed in response to the emergence of a large number of new heavily armored German tanks on the Soviet-German front.

76.2-mm gun Soviet medium tank T-34 was not powerful enough to fight the “Tigers” and “Panthers”. Then the Soviet designers had a deep modernization “tridtsatchetvёrki” arming its 85 mm gun ZIS-S-53, confidently punched frontal armor “Tiger” at a distance of 500 meters.

[1,999,016] The gun was placed in the new enlarged tower, which allowed eliminate the main drawback of earlier “tridtsatchetvёrki” – tightness of the crew compartment. The crew was increased to five, with the commander of the tank gunner was released from his duties, which significantly increased the efficiency in the management of the machine.

weight of the tank increased slightly – it helped to keep the permeability and mobility at a level close to the early modifications. In general, the set of parameters T-34-85 was one of the best tanks of World War II.

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ISU-152

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152-mm self-propelled howitzer SU-152 can destroy any German tank. But this self-propelled guns was built based on the heavy KV and he was removed from production. Instead, the belts was a new heavy tank IS.

chassis and engine-transmission compartment of the tank was used as a base for the new ISU-152 self-propelled guns. The choice was a good one, because the transmission mechanism JS allow more smoothly rotate the car and let the rapid deterioration of the chassis. This simplified the development and operation of self-propelled guns. In addition, the new self-propelled guns were better book, review and ventilation. No changes have only an instrument ML-20C, the capacity of which is still allowed to give a certain resistance to the German tanks.

[1,999,016] The first production ISU-152 left the assembly line of Kirov Plant 6 November 1943. Gradually it shifted release and other enterprises of the tank industry.

ISU-122

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With the increasing number of “Tigers” and “Panthers” on the Soviet-German front, the Red Army has escalated the need to self-propelled guns, which could effectively deal with them.

One of the simplest solutions offered designers of the Chelyabinsk plant № 100. They We redesigned the existing self-propelled gun ISU-152, replacing the 152-mm howitzer ML-20 122-mm gun A-19. This gun has a good ballistic properties, much better suited for shooting at moving targets at a distance and direct shot punched any tank, operated by the Wehrmacht at the time.

prototype ISU-122 was built in December 1943. He successfully passed the tests and was adopted by the Red Army in March 1944. ISU-122 were used not only to combat enemy armored vehicles, but also as an assault weapon, as well as firing from the closed position with a deficit of normal artillery.

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Guards rocket mortar BM -31-12

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In early 1943, Soviet designers developed powerful rockets M-31 that an explosive charge by weight more than five times shells famous “Katyusha” BM-13. After the explosion, the M-31 remained a funnel to a depth of 2.5 meters. Direct hit it completely destroys a small dot, and to blow to smithereens two- or three-story brick house, enough, depending on the strength of the building, from three to six hits. If the fuse M-31 was set to instant action, the shock wave hit the open target at a distance of 25 meters.

[1,999,016] Dvenadtsatizaryadnuyu installation BM-31-12, the Red Army has adopted in the beginning of June 44th. Guides shells mounted on the chassis of the truck lend-lease “Studebaker”. Parts armed BM-31-12, completed with the best battery commander, electricians and drivers. In fact, to bring the installation into the firing position or recharge it, it took no more than 15 minutes.

In the development of large-caliber mortars designers had to, among other things, solve the problem of charging heavy projectile in a rather long barrel. Mina wanted to lift to a height of two to three meters, and do it without special tools it was almost impossible. But the Soviet designers were able to find a way out of the impasse.

160-mm mortar MT-13 as a whole was based on the traditional pattern, with one exception: it is not being charged with a muzzle and on the breech like the traditional cannon. For loading rocker shaft had lowered horizontally, and after dosylka mines – to raise the position for shooting. This complicated structure, but helped to bring the mortar to the level of full-fledged heavy artillery.

160-mm mortar model 1943 had no rivals and competitors in other armies. Foreign counterparts caliber from 150 to 210 mm, or made in small batches, or remained at the prototype stage.

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[1,999,016] Thank you for your assistance in preparing the material historians archival group Wargaming.